Can't get iMessage out of my Android world. Help!

Can't get iMessage out of my Android world. Help!

I made the move from an iPhone 4s to a Samsung Galaxy S4 a week ago. I love my S4 and am happy to leave the iPhone behind. However, Apple won't let me go. By that I mean I can't get the Apple network to recognize my new phone and stop the iMessage network from treating me like I still have an iPhone. Specifically when someone else with an iPhone wants to send me a text Apple tries to send it as an iMessage and it therefore doesn't get delivered to my S4. Only if the iPhone sender recognizes the message never got delivered and then tries to resend as a text does it get delivered to my S4 phone.

So I started trying to run down the problem. First I turned iMessage off on my old iPhone. Then went into my Apple account and deactivated my old iPhone. Then I reset my old iPhone to the original factory setup condition and removed the sim card. Then I called Verizon tech support and they told me it could take up to 72 hours for the network to recognize the changes. Well it is well past 72 hours and the problem remains.

So here I am looking for some additional insight and advice on what else I can do to get Apple to let me go. Truth be told I never liked the control they had over me while I used their phone and needless to say I like them less now!

Thanks in advance for your help.

Please note: I also have an iPad and a Macbook Pro. I have turned iMessage on both of those devices as well. But maybe there is still something buried somewhere within one of them that is causing the problem. Needless to say I don't know!

Re: Can't get iMessage out of my Android world. Help!

Thanks for the input. I read it all and made sure I did everything I could to try and resolve the issue. Then I called Apple about the problem. Apple got the information related to my old iPhone and said they were taking my old iPhone out of their network. They said it would take up to 24 hours for it to be deleted across the Apple network. Well it is now 36 hours and counting and the problem remains.

At this point I don't know what else to do. Very, very frustrating. Does anyone have any other ideas of things I might try?

Re: Can't get iMessage out of my Android world. Help!

Re: Can't get iMessage out of my Android world. Help!

Originally Posted by ezridermn

Thanks for the input. I read it all and made sure I did everything I could to try and resolve the issue. Then I called Apple about the problem. Apple got the information related to my old iPhone and said they were taking my old iPhone out of their network. They said it would take up to 24 hours for it to be deleted across the Apple network. Well it is now 36 hours and counting and the problem remains.

At this point I don't know what else to do. Very, very frustrating. Does anyone have any other ideas of things I might try?

Re: Can't get iMessage out of my Android world. Help!

Originally Posted by ezridermn

Thanks for the input. I read it all and made sure I did everything I could to try and resolve the issue. Then I called Apple about the problem. Apple got the information related to my old iPhone and said they were taking my old iPhone out of their network. They said it would take up to 24 hours for it to be deleted across the Apple network. Well it is now 36 hours and counting and the problem remains.

At this point I don't know what else to do. Very, very frustrating. Does anyone have any other ideas of things I might try?

I wouldn't really worry that much. They're supposed to take it out of their system within 24 hours but it can take up to 72 hours sometimes. If all else fails, call apple again. They'll sort it out. Calm down, I assure you it'll get sorted out

Re: Can't get iMessage out of my Android world. Help!

The only other thing that has not been mentioned here is to try to have friends with iPhones send a text just to you and send it as a text and not an iMessage. If they are sending a text to you as part of an old text thread tell them to delete that thread and start a new one. This is supposed to "reset" things.

My son got a GS4 for Christmas and was coming from an iPhone 5. I read up on the problem and took all of the steps mentioned above before activating the GS4 and he still had problems for about 1 1/2 days after activation. After that he has not had any problems. Hope you get this resolved soon.

Re: Can't get iMessage out of my Android world. Help!

I just went through this exact same garbage; You have to have your iphone users ensure that "Send as SMS" is on/selected. Also, have them toggle iMessage off and then back on after a few seconds. All that means is if iMessage isn't available, their text will be sent as an SMS. The procedure that I have described above has worked on all iPhone users that I deal with.

Originally Posted by ezridermn

I made the move from an iPhone 4s to a Samsung Galaxy S4 a week ago. I love my S4 and am happy to leave the iPhone behind. However, Apple won't let me go. By that I mean I can't get the Apple network to recognize my new phone and stop the iMessage network from treating me like I still have an iPhone. Specifically when someone else with an iPhone wants to send me a text Apple tries to send it as an iMessage and it therefore doesn't get delivered to my S4. Only if the iPhone sender recognizes the message never got delivered and then tries to resend as a text does it get delivered to my S4 phone.

So I started trying to run down the problem. First I turned iMessage off on my old iPhone. Then went into my Apple account and deactivated my old iPhone. Then I reset my old iPhone to the original factory setup condition and removed the sim card. Then I called Verizon tech support and they told me it could take up to 72 hours for the network to recognize the changes. Well it is well past 72 hours and the problem remains.

So here I am looking for some additional insight and advice on what else I can do to get Apple to let me go. Truth be told I never liked the control they had over me while I used their phone and needless to say I like them less now!

Thanks in advance for your help.

Please note: I also have an iPad and a Macbook Pro. I have turned iMessage on both of those devices as well. But maybe there is still something buried somewhere within one of them that is causing the problem. Needless to say I don't know!

Re: Can't get iMessage out of my Android world. Help!

Originally Posted by androidatic

The only other thing that has not been mentioned here is to try to have friends with iPhones send a text just to you and send it as a text and not an iMessage. If they are sending a text to you as part of an old text thread tell them to delete that thread and start a new one. This is supposed to "reset" things.

My son got a GS4 for Christmas and was coming from an iPhone 5. I read up on the problem and took all of the steps mentioned above before activating the GS4 and he still had problems for about 1 1/2 days after activation. After that he has not had any problems. Hope you get this resolved soon.

Originally Posted by rob damiani

I just went through this exact same garbage; You have to have your iphone users ensure that "Send as SMS" is on/selected. Also, have them toggle iMessage off and then back on after a few seconds. All that means is if iMessage isn't available, their text will be sent as an SMS. The procedure that I have described above has worked on all iPhone users that I deal with.

I have friends and family with phones that have done this before and it worked like a charm.
I hope the OP gets the problem resolved.

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